Listed here are the symposia, controversy sessions and workshops
which have been approved for presentation at the ASN Scientific
Sessions and Annual Meeting at EB 2011 in Washington, D.C.
This page is updated as frequently as possible. Last updated: March 14, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
1:00pm- 5:00pm
Pre-Conference: "The Global Nutrition Translation: The
Role of Protein Supplementation." (more
information)
Friday, April 8, 2011
9:30AM-3:30PM
Pre-Conference: "Heart Healthy Omega-3s for Food: Stearidonic Acid (SDA) as a Sustainable Choice." (more information)
Saturday, April 9, 2011
8:00AM-NOON
Special Session/Special Conference: ILSI Conference: Functional Foods for Health Promotion: Moving Beyond Good Fat, Bad Fat Chair: John Milner and Brent Flickinger
Description: The session will address issues related to emerging dietary lipid science, including the active role of lipids in modulating physiological pathways that may relate to disease outcomes. Overarching themes addressed in this ½ day session include the interaction of lipids with gut receptors and impacts on brain health and inflammation. Speakers will discuss the role of CD36 in taste and desire for fatty acids, the role of fatty acids in satiety, the role of DHA and dietary sphingolipids and gangliosides in cognition and the brain, and the impact of fat and fatty acids in the inflammatory process.
8:00AM
Symposium: Intervention Points in Childhood Obesity: How and who should we treat?
Description: Rates of childhood obesity continue to increase, and currently there are no broadly accepted overarching concepts in treatment other than reducing energy intake and increasing energy expenditure. This presentation is being proposed by the MNC to help make a quantitative leap forward in our understanding of the fundamental principles that will contribute to program efficacy in children compared to adults. We anticipate substantial interest in the symposium throughout ASN as well as to other societies that have active obesity research ongoing. Chair: Susan B. Roberts and Nancy Krebs
9:00AM-10:15AM
Special Session: MNC Clinical Emerging Leader Award Oral Competition. Chair: Penny Kris-Etherton EDUCATION TRACK
10:30AM -12:30PM
Symposium: Improving the Food Environment at Worksites and Schools through Sustainable and Healthy Food Procurement and Farm to Institution Strategies. Chair: Joel Kimmons and Arlin Wasserman.
Description: Several recent symposia presented at EB have demonstrated the importance of economics, food production, and food systems approaches to understand diet and diet‐related disease in the United States. What is missing from the literature to date are evidence‐based strategies for changing food systems to support a healthy diet. The federal government is poised to embark on a policy experiment to support healthy food system development by promoting sustainable food systems. This symposium will discuss the development of this systems level intervention and facilitate research that examines the affects of this policy change on diet and health.
2:00PM-5:00PM
Special Session: NSC Graduate Student Research Award Oral Competition. Chair: Katherine Tucker EDUCATION TRACK
3:00PM-5:00PM
Symposium: Novel integrative research on the brain basis of human food intake and obesity. Chairs: George Blackburn and Allan Walker
Description: The fight against the obesity epidemic requires innovation, commitment and multidisciplinary efforts. Recent research on food intake and obesity has benefited from the integration of brain-based methodologies such as functional neuroimaging and brain stimulation, as well as disciplines such as cognitive neuroscience or neuroeconomics, offering new and fresh insights in the field. The new knowledge that is generated with this approach has the potential to impact our understanding of human food intake and obesity on a broader scale, and ultimately benefit the health of many individuals. This symposium will highlight the potential of modern multidisciplinary neuroscience in the study of human food intake and obesity, bringing together experts in neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience, neuroeconomics, and neuromodulation, who will present an overview of emerging perspectives and translational applications
Symposium: Tackling Iron Deficiency and Anemia in Infants and Young Children in Malaria Endemic Areas: Moving from Controversy towards Guidance for Safe, Effective and Feasible Polocies and Programs. Chairs: Lynnette Neufeld and Angus Scrimgeour.
Description: Two nutrition speakers have been selected on the basis of their expertise in the major approaches available for infant and young child iron deficiency control in malaria endemic areas: targeted and universal provision of iron. For each approach the speaker will assess the state of the evidence, weigh the strengths and weaknesses and risks and benefits, interpret the current knowledge in a policy and programmatic context, and finally identify critical knowledge gaps. To set the stage for this analysis, a malaria expert will assess the global malaria situation as it relates to iron deficiency control strategies and also discuss options for monitoring malaria control programs in the context of iron interventions. To date, the malariologist perspective has largely been left out of the nutrition research community's discussions. The goal of the symposium, and the ultimate task of the concluding presentation, is to move towards agreement on what approach or combination of approaches for addressing iron deficiency is most likely to be safe, effective and feasible in the resource poor settings where iron deficiency and malaria prevalence is high.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
8:00AM-10:00AM
Symposium: The Presidential Symposium. Ameliorating micronutrient deficiencies through biofortification: The science and prospects. Chair: Robert Russell
Description: This symposium will provide an update on the need for and the latest technological developments used in crop biofortification- by both conventional breeding vs. genetic modification (GM). The scientific, policy and political problems that have been encountered as well as the potential promise of GM staple foods will be addressed. Specific micronutrient and crop examples will be used to illustrate the issues raised. These presentations will provide a unique- multidisciplinary perspective that should allow ASN members to contribute to this important ongoing food and nutrition discussion.
10:30AM-12:30PM
Symposium: CARIG: Biofortification of provitamin A in maize for Africa. Chair: Sherry Tanumihardjo
Description: This symposium will use maize as a case study to present findings along the entire product development pathway of a successful biofortification effort. This will include recent research related to genetic variation and breeding, issues of retention during processing and storage, in vitro and in vivo bioavailabilitystudies, and consumer acceptance of this novel crop.
Symposium: Ethical issues in nutrition research. Chairs: Laura Caulfield and Thomas Ziegler
Description: The goal of this symposium is to examine key
ethical issues faced by researchers in various areas of nutrition
research. Each talk within the symposium will provide background
on the area of research, the ethical issues presented, the status
of ethical guidelines/consensus, and ethical challenges for the
future.
12:45-1:45 PM
Special Session: E.V. McCollum
Lecture
Andrew Prentice, A. M. Prentice. London Sch. of Hyg. and Trop. Med. and MRC Keneba, The Gambia.
"Trials and Tribulations:
Interpreting Unexpected Outcomes from Micronutrient
Interventions"
3:00PM-5:00PM
Symposium: Maternal obesity and long-term programming of obesity risk. Chairs: Janet King and Tom Badger
Description: This symposium will combine clinical and mechanistic research to address issues relating to maternal obesity and gestational weight gain (GWG). Both the immediate health consequences to the mother and long-term to the offspring will be covered. An overview of the revised guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy (in 2009) will be presented. The symposium will cover a discussion of data from animal studies (including non-human primates) that have begun to elucidate underlying mechanisms of maternal obesity-associated programming. A discussion of epigenetic changes in pre-clinical models such as mice, and the role of the placenta in translational studies will be covered. Finally, the symposium will address the public policy related aspects of the potential of maternal obesity-induced transmission of obesity and avenues for intervention.
Symposium: The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: New process, recommendations, and implications for the future. Chairs: Anna Maria Siega Riz and Patricia Guenther
Description: The goals of this symposium are to present the new development process and recommendations of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, highlight research priorities for setting future Guidelines, and identify challenges to and potential solutions for evaluating dietary status of Americans relative to the Guidelines.
Workshop: The GPEC Educational Forum: Integrating nutritional genomics and nutritional genetics in the 21st century nutrition curriculum. Education Forum. Chair: Richard Wood EDUCATION TRACK
Description: The overall objective of the symposium is to examine the need to integrate developments in nutritional genomics and nutritional genetics (NG/NG), and other “-omics”, e.g., epigenomics, metabolomics, etc, into the 21st century nutritional science curriculum at various levels of post-secondary school training, including undergraduate, graduate and medical school programs.
Monday, April 11, 2011
8:00AM-10:00AM
Symposium: Genetic polymorphisms as sources of nutritional/metabolic variation -- a methods workshop. Chairs: Steven Zeisel and Werner Bergen
Description: This will be a methods-focused workshop in which experts discuss the strengths and limitations of available methods, approaches to data analysis and practical suggestions for experimental design.
Symposium: Assessing the effects of bioactives in humans: Establishing the framework for an evidence-based approach. Chairs: David Heber and John Erdman
Description: The aim of this symposium is to explore scientific frameworks used to assess and interpret the effects of bioactive food components (e.g. carotenoids, polyphenols, isoflavones, etc…) in humans, and their impact on development of nutrition policy decisions (e.g. Health Claims, dietary guidance statements, etc…). The discussion will cover whether and how bioactives should be considered nutritive, and on what basis recommended intakes should be made. Specific bioactives will be discussed as “case studies” to illustrate progress to date and identify major gaps in processes, information and understanding.
10:30AM-12:30PM
Symposium: Building convergence among scientific, programmatic and policy communities working on childhood undernutrition in developing countries. Chairs: Purnima Menon and Rebecca Stoltzfus
Description: Childhood stunting and childhood wasting are often portrayed as relatively distinct manifestations of undernutrition. There is now an emerging concern that little is known about how children progress from one manifestation of undernutrition to another as they grow older, and about how intervention strategies need to consider the potential overlap of these manifestations of undernutrition. Questions remain about the extent to which pre-disposing contextual and biological factors influence growth processes and nutritional outcomes such as stunting and wasting among young children. Further, just as the community of science on child malnutrition is divided, the intervention community is similarly divided; one practitioner community focuses on prevention of undernutrition while the other focuses on recuperative treatment. The fragmentation of interests has negative consequences for advocacy efforts that aim to bring attention and resources to child nutrition across the globe. It also has serious implications for how children in programs worldwide receive nutrition interventions and services. The symposium will bring together a set of speakers from academic, practice and policy communities to discuss and debate these issues.
Symposium: Is 'processed' a four letter word? - The role of processed foods in achieving dietary guidelines and nutrient recommendations in the US. Chairs: Guy Johnson and Janet King.
Description: Processed foods and technology (and the discipline of food science that enables them) are increasingly being characterized as unnatural, unsafe and/or nutritionally inappropriate by some members of the professional community, advocacy organizations and the media. Regardless of these criticisms, the combination of food science and nutrition can be used to develop great tasting foods that enable consumers to choose a nutritious diet that conforms to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In addition, such foods make a major contribution to the energy and nutrient intake of the general population, the military, NASA astronauts, and during domestic and international relief efforts. The purpose of this symposium is to discuss the benefits of increased interaction between the disciplines of nutrition and food science, to provide objective data and scientific evidence on the nutritional contributions of processed and unprocessed foods using the National Health and Examination Survey (NHANES) database, to identify opportunities and limitations of the use of processed foods to help consumers implement the 2010 Dietary Guidelines and to identify strategies for communicating such information to a skeptical audience.
Education and Professional Development Session: Training nutrition educators for the health professions. Chairs: Martin Kohlmeier, Doug Seidner, and Carine Lenders EDUCATION TRACK
Description: A significant goal of the symposium is to
build a vibrant network of instructors who will share their
experience and promote nutrition education at their home
institutions. Participants can enter their contact information
into a list that will then be circulated to all others on that
list to promote networking with fellow nutrition educators. The
expectation is that attendees stay in touch with each other and
with seasoned nutrition educators, discussing current
instructional challenges, alerting each other of new educational
developments, and pointing out additional resources. Network
members can also support each other in curriculum negotiations by
providing expert opinions and sharing their own experience with
mentoring less experienced instructors, developing nutrition
programs and instructional content. The attendees will receive a
folder with the presentations, instructional templates and other
material for training nutrition educators, and lists of teaching
tools.
12:45-1:45 PM
Special
Session: G.A. Leveille Lecture
Connie Weaver, Purdue
Univ.
3:00PM-5:00PM
Symposium: Metabolic regulation and immune cells: Implication for chronic and infectious diseases. Chairs: Simin Meydani and Melinda Beck
Description: Although it has been know for decades that host nutritional status can have a profound influence on immune function, only recently have advances been made to understand how nutritionally related metabolic processes can affect immune cell function. Very recent studies have also demonstrated the novel and exciting finding that immune cells themselves can affect host metabolism. This symposium will address current issues on how metabolism can affect the ability of the host to respond to immunological challenges and to provide a mechanistic approach for understanding the relationship between nutrition and immunity.
Symposium: Recovery from stunting after age 2 y: how often does it happen, and what are the cognitive and developmental benefits?Chairs: Kirk Dearden and Ellen Piwoz.
Description: The goal of this symposium is to review recent evidence about whether stunting and its consequences are irreversible after the first 2 years of life. The focus is on growth of children in low and middle income countries (LMIC) during infancy and early childhood. Speakers have been selected to represent several angles of the debate about when growth faltering occurs, whether it is possible for children to catch up in growth, and whether the long-term impact of stunting can be reversed. To date, the preponderance of evidence has supported early nutrition and public health interventions. In some cases, this may be at the expense of children greater than two years of age. Recent research suggests that stunting is reversible and that children who catch up in growth experience long-term outcomes that are as favorable as children who are not. We now have new information on medium-term outcomes that suggests that children who are stunted in infancy (at 1 year of age) but recover by age 5 demonstrate cognition that is similar to children who are not stunted at either age.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
8:00AM-10:00AM
Symposium: Impact of maternal nutritional status on breast milk quality and infant outcomes: an update on key nutrients. Chairs: Laurie Nommsen-Rivers and Donna Chapman
Description: Until recently, it was widely believed that nutritional deficiencies in breastfed infants were relatively rare. Routine supplementation of breastfed infants in the U.S. is not recommended with the exception of vitamin K in the newly delivered neonate (3) and—since 2005—vitamin D supplementation throughout infancy (4). However, the World Health Organization 2003 Expert Consultation on the optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding (2) did acknowledge that data are insufficient to exclude the possibility of micronutrient deficiencies in some infants exclusively breastfed for six months. Thus, there has been a renewed effort to better understand the relationship between maternal micronutrient status and human milk quality, particularly in regions of the world where diet quality is poor (5). However, even for women in resource-rich settings, modern trends in diet and lifestyle may compromise milk nutrient levels. For example, it was previously believed that only strict vegans were at risk for B-12 deficiency, however several studies have revealed that even lacto-ovo vegetarians, or individuals who consume low amounts of meat (6), are at greater risk of vitamin B-12 deficiency compared with omnivores. Furthermore, current public health recommendations advise pregnant and lactating women to limit their consumption of seafood in order to minimize mercury ingestion and for all individuals to minimize sun exposure, which compromise the levels of omega 3 fatty acids (7) and vitamin D (8) in human milk, respectively. The three nutrient families featured in the symposium—B-vitamins, vitamin D, and the omega 3 fatty acids—are of public health relevance in the U.S. and internationally. The slate of speakers will provide an overview of the state of the science, present new research discoveries that may challenge the current paradigm, and suggest important future directions for research.
Symposium: Food aid commodities: Optimum micronutrient composition and best programmatic uses. Chairs: Beatrice Lorge Rogers and Patrick Webb
Description: This symposium will present the results of a two-year food aid quality review, funded by USAID, to research the nutritional quality and programmatic uses of U.S. Title II food aid products--with a particular focus on enhancing fortified blended foods provided through U.S. food assistance programs in emergency and non-emergency settings. The symposium will present findings and recommendations on the composition of enriched or fortified food aid products, as well as the programmatic uses of these products based on surveys of program implementers and industry stakeholders, multiple expert consultations, reviews of scientific and programmatic literature (published and unpublished), cost analysis, and ongoing efficacy and effectiveness research.
10:30AM-12:30PM
Symposium: Minority Affairs Committee: Health disparities in early nutrition: Where the problem begins? Chairs: Rafael Perez Escamilla and Odilia Bermudez
Description: The current obesity epidemic among the US population heavily affects women of childbearing age, particularly those from ethnic/racial minority communities. As discussed in the 2009 Institute of Medicine report entitled ‘‘Gestational Weight Gain: Re-examining the Guidelines', there is a pressing need to research and understand the behavioral, cultural, and socio-economic interactions linked to excessive gestational weight gain affecting the well-being of mothers and their offspring, through increased risks for obesity and chronic diseases. Maternal and child nutrition and health disparities need to be addressed through culturally appropriate interventions that take into account these complex multifactorial and multilevel relationships.
This Symposium will serve as a forum to discuss factors influencing health and nutrition disparities during the prenatal and postnatal periods, for both mother and child. Ignoring the influence of biological, socio-economic and cultural environments on health and nutrition early in life will further exacerbate the obesity epidemic, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and other diseases currently affecting the US population, particularly those belonging to ethnic/racial minority groups. This symposium will present ASN members with a new perspective on maternal and child health disparities and how both interrelate, and will present promising evidence-based interventions to address them.
Symposium: DRIs for Calcium and Vitamin D.
Chairs: Linda Meyers with Christine Taylor and Dennis Bier
Description: The last year has been a productive one for the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board, with a number of expert committee reports that included ASN members and that are of special relevance to the nutrition research community. These included a major report on actions needed by FDA to enhance food safety, and recommended nutrition standards for the USDA's Child, and Adult Care Food Programs of USDA. Of particular interest to ASN is the review of Dietary Reference Intakes for vitamin D and calcium. The session will feature an update on the board's work and then focus on the vitamin D and calcium work.
SIG Special Session: The changing face of nutrition in the United States: How nutrition policy and consumer awareness are changing the practice of nutrition and food science. Chair: Rachel Kopec EDUCATION TRACK
Description: Nutrition has recently gained increased public attention as discussion of rising healthcare costs has taken center stage in Washington D.C. The high rate of obesity in the United States, coupled with the cost of treating co-morbidities associated with obesity, has prompted discussions on nutrition and disease prevention. Proposed measures in the healthcare reform bill (for example, requiring nutrition information on restaurant menus), and the childhood obesity prevention initiative spearheaded by Michelle Obama, provide two examples of increasing attention to nutrition at the federal level. In addition, policies have been implemented in high profile cities, like the trans-fat ban and the National Sodium Reduction Initiative proposed by New York City. Since EB 2011 will be held in Washington D.C., we have a unique opportunity to invite speakers to discuss how new nutrition-related federal policies and initiatives will affect the field of nutrition in the coming years.
Highlighted speaker for this event is: Dr. Catherine Woteki, Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics
12:45-1:45 PM
Special Session: W.O. Atwater
Lecture
Robert J. Cousins, Boston Family (Endowed) Chair in Nutrition, Director of the Center for Nutritional Sciences, University of Florida
3:00PM-5:00PM
Symposium: The global beverage picture: Where is the science today as beverage consumption relates to cardiometabolic health? Chairs: Barry Popkin and George Bray
Description: What are global patterns and trends in all beverages? And what is the health effect of several yet to be fully explored components of our beverage pattern. One is the role of fructose in any sugar. A second is that of caffeine and a third is water. Each are addressed by key global scholars on the topic. Caffeine is increasingly being added to a large array of SSB's or sold with nonnutritive sweeteners. There has been extensive research undertaken in the behavioral pharmacology and psychology areas by scholars who have gained insights into caffeine's effects on behavior and biology of great relevance to the beverages and cardiometabolic area. Does caffeine encourage greater consumption of caloric beverages (SSB's and others)? Furthermore, in the cases of consumption of large amounts of caffeine among youth not use to consuming caffeine - what are the possible health effects of major intakes of caffeine? For water a number of new RCT's are presented as is some of the work reviewing water and its comparison with other beverages as consumption of water affects daily energy intake.
Symposium: Enteric Infections meet the Mucosa – How Micronutrients Regulate Gut Mucosal Barrier Function.Chairs: Angus G. Scrimgeour and Jamie Baum.
Description: Micronutrient supplementation offers one of the most cost-effective means of improving the health and survival of children in developing countries. However, the effects of supplementation with single micronutrients on diarrhea are not always consistent, and supplementation with multi-micronutrient
supplements can have negative effects. Zinc supplementation reduces the duration and severity of acute and persistent diarrhea; Vitamin A supplementation has consistently reduced overall infant mortality, diarrhea associated infant mortality, and the severity of diarrheal disease episodes; however, the mechanisms by which zinc and/or vitamin A exert their anti-diarrheal effect(s) have not been fully elucidated. The speakers at this mini-symposium will help to explain the mechanism(s) by which prebiotic nutrients exhibit pathogenspecific modifications, alter the mucosal lining of the GI-system, boost the innate (vs adaptive) immune response, and thus more effectively reduce infectious diarrhea morbidity in children.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
8:00AM-10:00AM
Symposium: Application of systematic, evidence-based review methodology to support dietary guidelines, dietary reference intake values and Medicare coverage policies: challenges, solutions and future steps. Chairs: Joseph Lau and Linda Van Horn.
Description: This forum will provide an in depth presentation of the challenges and solutions derived from three different applications of systematic, evidence based review (SEBR) methodology to support development of Federal nutrition policy: the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010; the update of Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs), and the basis for Medicare Coverage Policies for Medical Nutrition Therapy. SEBR methodology is an evolving scientific approach used to conduct transparent, rigorous reviews of the literature; however, its application to the field of nutrition poses unique challenges. Recently, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report recommending methodological standards for systematic reviews of clinical effectiveness research on health and healthcare. This report may impart further develop of this methodology.
Symposium: Exploring the Factors That Impact Blood Cholesterol and Heart Disease Risk: Is Dietary Cholesterol as Bad for You as History Leads us to Believe? Chairs: Mitch Kanter and Penny Kris-Etherton.
Description: This session will explore the latest research regarding dietary fat and cholesterol intake and their relationship to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. For at least the past 50 years, much of the scientific literature regarding dietary fat intake has indicated a strong positive correlation with heart disease. In recent years, however, data indicating that dietary fat is not a homogeneous, and universally unhealthy, entity has begun to emerge.
The long‐held belief that certain fats (i.e., saturated fats and cholesterol) are inherently unhealthy has recently been questioned and researchers have begun to re‐examine some of the methodologies, statistics, and assumptions that have been applied in prior studies that have contributed to our current beliefs regarding diet and disease risk. Further, there are emerging data on the role of macronutrients on CVD risk; e.g., the implications of protein as a substitute for carbohydrate on biomarkers of chronic disease (i.e., triglycerides, blood pressure, blood glucose levels). Additionally, researchers are investigating clinical biomarkers (i.e. LDL:HDL ratio, endothelial function) that are used to evaluate heart disease risk, and how these markers are impacted by dietary intake.
10:30AM-12:30PM
Symposium: Evidence-based analysis – Is it appropriate for nutrition?
Chairs: Frances Coletta and Cathy Kapica.
Description: The ADA EAP is specific for developing guidelines for evidence-based practice among dietitians, with the study questions initially selected on relevance to dietetic practice. As such, the review focuses on the translation of the research to clinical application, consideration of patient care and dietary factors (Myers et al, 2001). Hence, the validity questions are framed to evaluate the research in a context that borrows from the medical or pharmaceutical model. Consequently, the randomized controlled trial is given the greatest weight because it is the only design to permit strong, causal inference (Weaver, 2010). Within the EAP model, randomized controlled trials are designed for a component or intervention that works quickly to identify one mechanism or pathway of action within a medical model. In evaluating experimentally-based evidence to support nutrition recommendations and effective interventions to promote dietary behavior change, there is a concern in the nutrition science and nutrition-behavior communities that this model for the EAP presents limitations.
Symposium: Saturated fat intake and cardiovascular disease: Does the science support current recommendations? Chairs: Keigan Park.
Description: The 2010 release of the Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans marked 30 years of recommendations to decrease saturated fat intake as a means to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (1). Despite adherence to the recommendations (saturated fat as 10% of energy) (2, 3), via a decrease in saturated fat intake as a mean percentage of total calories over the last three decades (from approximately 13% to 10% of energy) (4), CVD remains the leading cause of death among Americans (5). Will further recommendations to reduce saturated fat intake help to decrease cardiovascular risk? If Americans eat less saturated fat, what will they eat in place of it? What impact will this have on cardiovascular health? The aims of this controversy session are to review and debate the current scientific literature regarding saturated fat intake and CVD, specifically focusing on the consequences of substituting saturated fat with other macronutrients. The efficacy of various biological markers used to determine cardiovascular risk will also be discussed.
9:00am - 3:30pm
Workshop: NIST Micronutrients Measurement Quality Assurance Workshop
Chair: Jeanice Brown Thomas,Coordinator for the NIST Fat-Soluble Vitamin and Vitamin C Quality Assurance Programs,National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Description: For the past 26 years, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has supported the Micronutrient Measurement Quality Assurance Program (MMQAP). The MMQAP was established to support laboratories that measure vitamins and carotenoids in human serum and plasma. One part of the program is the Micronutrients Measurement QA Workshop which now supports activities in three major focus areas: the measurement of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids, the measurement of total ascorbic acid, and now the measurement of vitamin D metabolites. Speakers have been selected to share their expertise in these areas and to discuss the analytical challenges that they have encountered and/or overcome. Results from recent comparisons, developments in analytical methods, and related topics will also be summarized.
Click here for more information in the NIST Workshop.